GM has been offering the Chevrolet Volt for the past year and the car has proven to be reasonably popular, even if the price keeps some away. The Volt isn't a fully-fledged EV, and has a gasoline engine/generator onboard to extend the range of the vehicle when the battery pack is exhausted.

GM announced today that it has plans to start selling a pure electric vehicle (EV) in 2013. The EV will be called the Spark and it will be a complete electric powered mini-car that is aimed at drivers in big cities. The first markets to receive the Spark EV are likely to be the same ones that welcomed the Volt.

“The Spark EV offers customers living in urban areas who have predictable driving patterns or short commutes an all-electric option,” said Jim Federico, global vehicle chief engineer for electric vehicles at Chevrolet. “It complements Chevrolet’s growing range of electrified vehicles, including the Volt extended-range EV and the 2013 Malibu Eco with eAssist technology.”

At this point GM isn't offering hard details on the Spark. We don't know the driving range, price, or anything about its performance. All we know for sure right now is that the Spark will use battery packs from A123 Systems. Those battery packs will be nanophosphate lithium-ion packs.

The Spark EV will use nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries [Source: GM]

“Our global demo fleets continue to provide insight into the needs of electric vehicle customers living in urban environments,” said Federico. “The Spark EV is another step in Chevrolet’s plan to provide customers with a variety of electrification solutions to address the lifestyle and transportation needs of people around the world.”

It would be easy to expect the Spark to target the Nissan Leaf which has an EPA estimated driving range of 73 miles or less depending on the conditions.